


My Vessel, My Grave

by Cowboy_Sneep_Dip



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Doomed Timeline, Emotional Baggage, F/F, Fire Emblem: Awakening Spoilers, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mutual Pining, Severa is a big softie who cries constantly and no one can convince me otherwise, Somewhat canon divergent, Violence, no one is that high-strung and self-critical without the emotional stability of a sheet of paper
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-01-31 06:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12675948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cowboy_Sneep_Dip/pseuds/Cowboy_Sneep_Dip
Summary: The scattered remnants of Chrom's army struggle for survival, battling scarcity of resources and an ever-growing tide of Risen in the burnt-out shell of the former world. Severa and Noire travel alone through this bleak future, each other their only comfort. They struggle with their own personal demons, their individual battles overlapping with Lucina's quest to right a world gone wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guess what couple I fell in love with now that I've finally played Awakening
> 
> For real, though, I adore SevNoire and this will absolutely not be the last fic I write with them, but I figured I'd start with something a little darker and longer. I hope you enjoy reading! It's kinda fun to write a medieval+post-apocalypse piece.

Noire waited patiently as Severa wrapped her arm in gauze, stopping periodically to dab the blood away with a damp cloth. She didn’t wince as Severa disinfected the wounds, nor make a sound of protest as she secured the gauze with bandages. She stared straight ahead, her eyes distant and red-rimmed, fighting the urge to cry. She watched the stone wall of the room closely. It was almost as if she expected it to move, for the worn bricks to be blasted through and Risen to come spilling through at any moment. But at the same time, she felt distant and reserved, moving slowly as Severa pushed her arm up, pulled it down, shifted her neck back and forth, trying to clean her wounds.

Severa said nothing either. She looked tired. More than that, she looked drained, as if she was struggling to keep her eyes open even as she tended to Noire. It had been a long, hard day, and the night would be no different. Under the burnt-out sky, it was always like this.

Severa nodded, her eyelids drooping. She leaned forward slowly, letting her hands drop to her sides as she let go of her roll of bandages. She caught herself at the last minute and jerked awake, just barely keeping herself from collapsing into Noire’s shoulder.

“S-sorry,” Noire said softly.

“It’s okay. I’m just tired,” Severa replied, sighing. She closed her eyes and took a breath, but she left her eyes closed. She stood in front of Noire, breathing slowly and evenly, sleep nipping at her heels.

Suddenly Noire reached out and grabbed her, tugging her forward into a stiff and painful embrace. Her shoulder smarted, but she endured, knowing how badly Severa needed – how they both needed the contact, the touch of another human being to remind them why they persisted another day.

Severa relished the embrace, resting her head on Noire’s shoulder and allowing herself to drink in Noire’s scent. She smelled awful – like blood and sweat, the musty odor of someone who hadn’t bathed in anything but rainwater in gods-know-how-long. But she smelled so awfully _human_ , a break from the stench of charred bodies and blackened earth. Severa breathed and wrapped her arms around Noire’s shoulders, clinging tightly to her.

“S-Severa?” Noire touched her softly and felt her quivering under her touch. She was sobbing, attempting in vain to stifle the hot, salty tears spilling down her cheeks and onto Noire’s shoulder.

She tried to pull herself together before speaking. “I-I’m okay,” Severa said shakily. “I’m just tired. It’s…it’s okay.” She pulled back, blinking tears away. “Sorry, I’m just tired.” She smiled.

It was a fake smile, and Noire knew that. She knew that it had been a long time since Severa had smiled for real. Even before all this, she was scant with her feelings, more likely to grin in a wicked sneer than to show genuine happiness. And by the time she had begun to realize the importance of truly showing happiness when she found it, it was scarcely found anymore. There were no more real smiles to give in this bleak, godless wasteland. Noire smiled back.

Severa brushed off her shirt and helped Noire down from the makeshift doctor’s table they had created from a crate. Noire stretched her arm.

“How’s it feel?”

“O-okay,” she said, rolling her shoulder. “I should still be okay to shoot.”

“Good,” Severa nodded. “We should rest here for the night. I can take first watch since you’re hurt.”

“Severa…”

“I’m okay. Really.” That fake smile again. Noire knew better than to protest, though.

“Okay.”

They set to work quickly, turning the disused storeroom into their camp. It was a dusty stone room, the walls loose and crumbling and the ceiling made of splintering wood. Through the cracked beams they could see the sky – calling it sunlight would be generous, but during the day the sky glowed with a dim, fiery red. Clouds of ash billowed above.

Severa pushed the crate back, making space on the floor to lay out their bedroll. They had just one between the two of them, which was just as well considering they never slept at the same time. One always kept watch, the other rested. Back and forth, in shifts, until the red light of what passed for dawn came cresting over the bleak horizon.

Severa shut the door to the storeroom and barred it with a wooden beam. She tested it, giving it a hard thump before sitting down with her back to the door, satisfied. In the back of her mind, she suspected it was sturdy enough to let both of them rest. But she knew better than to let her guard down for so long. She leaned her head against the stone wall and gestured at Noire. “Go on. Get some sleep.”

Noire curled up in the bedroll, a tight fetal ball, hugging herself. Carrying a pillow was more trouble than it was worth, so she folded up her leather cuirass to rest her head on. She was asleep before her head hit the ground.

Severa set a black metal lantern next to her. She didn’t light it. It wasn’t dark yet, and even if it was, light had a tendency to attract attention. It wasn’t there for her.

She began to dig through her pack, looking for something to eat or drink. A few strips of dried meat from their last hunt were left, as well as a flask of bitter water. It had to be boiled before consumption, and the process left the water tasting stale. Better than nothing, though. She chewed on a piece of jerky and washed it down with a swig from the flask. That would be her rations for the night.

She stared at Noire, watching her sleep. For better or for worse, Severa’s shifts were usually quite short. Noire could only sleep in short bursts before the nightmares settled in, and tonight would likely prove to be no exception. Noire would use the lantern, her fear of the dark spurring them to accumulate whatever fuel they could find during the day.

Noire mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over.

Severa let her head droop forward slightly and closed her eyes.

She awoke with a start to the sound of Noire’s muffled thrashing. She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. The sun had set and now the room was pitch-black, Severa unable to even see her hand in front of her face. She frantically scrambled for the lantern, quickly striking a match against the rough stone floor. The first match flared up then fizzled out. She struck another, cursing.

A flame billowed in the lamp, casting an orange ball of light around the two girls.

Noire was whimpering and writhing, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She was breathing heavily, gasping in fits and starts.

“Hey, hey,” Severa said calmly, pulling her out of the bedroll and embracing her. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Noire shook her head, burying her face in Severa’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I fell asleep. The lamp’s on now, okay? It’s alright.”

The last thing she needed was Noire having a panic attack in such a dark and cramped space. She released the trembling girl from her grip and let her adjust to the light. Noire’s eyes darted around the space wildly, peering into the darkened corners of the room that the lantern couldn’t reach. Before she could start hyperventilating, Severa grabbed her arm.

“Hey, come on. Like we practiced.”

Noire gulped and nodded. She focused on her breathing and tried to keep it steady and even.

“Alright. Come on. One. Two. You’re doing fine. Three.” Severa counted off Noire’s desperate inhales and exhales.

As she reached ten, Noire gasped loudly, whimpering. “I’m-I’m sorry, Severa,” she sniffed.

“It’s okay,” Severa touched her arm. “I should have lit the lamp when it got dark. It’s my fault. It’s okay now.” She gestured to the bedroll. “Go back to sleep.”

Noire shook her head, wrapping her arms around her knees. “You need to sleep, Severa. I’ll keep an eye out.”

Severa sighed. “Promise you’ll be okay?”

Noire smiled. “Yeah. I’m with you, right?”

“Atta girl,” Severa said, slipping into the bedroll. “Goodnight, Noire.”

“Mmhm,” came the almost silent reply.

 

Severa jolted upright, startled from sleep yet again, flinging the covers of her makeshift bed off and looking around the room. It was light out, the dim sky sending shafts of light through the cracked ceiling. The lantern was on the floor, smoking and smoldering, having run out of fuel some time ago. For a moment, Severa felt panic.

“Noire,” she said quietly. “Noire?” louder this time.

A muffled sound came from her side. She looked down to see Noire curled up against her, snoring softly.

Severa breathed a sigh of relief, pressing her hand to her chest. “Gawds, Noire. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Noire mumbled and snuggled against her. Severa sighed and gently reached out to touch the sleeping girl. She brushed hair out of her face, the black bangs giving way to her soft, sleeping face.

Severa let her finger trail down her cheek and brush against her lips. Her lips were dry and cracked, the lack of water taking its toll. Noire mumbled something, pulling her lips apart as Severa touched them.

She shuddered, pulling her finger back. She gulped.

After a moment of recovery, she slid out of the bedroll and got to her feet, picking up her pack and sifting through the contents. Two matches, no fuel. Three strips of dried meat. A stale breadroll, almost as hard as a rock. Flask of water, two-thirds full. Food was the priority, then. After breakfast, they would have maybe enough for another day, two if they really stretched it. Fighting was exhausting work, though, and near-impossible on an empty stomach.

“Hm?” Noire rolled over, blinking blearily. “Severa? What’s wrong?”

“We need to get moving, sleepyhead,” Severa smiled, nudging her gently with her boot.

“Mmhm.”

They emerged from the storehouse into the ruinous outskirts of some unnamed town. It had once had a name, sure, but it’s not like there were any locals around to ask. The morning was cold, a stale wind blowing in from the sea and making Severa shiver. It had been a port town, once. Before the fisheries dried up, before the sea grew sour. The sky was an ashen grey.

She took Noire’s hand as they walked, ostensibly to comfort the anxious girl but as much for herself as Noire. It was the contact that mattered. She would have done it with any traveling companion. It’s not like there was anything special about this nervous wreck of a girl. 

“Um…S-Severa?” Noire said after a while.

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“I…um…I forgot my talisman,” she said shamefully.

Severa stood still for a moment, taking in the bitter sea air. “Do you think you left it in the storeroom?”

“I don’t remember,” Noire began sniffling. “Please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t mean to lose it, I swear! Oh, please don’t be mad at me!” her voice grew more panicked. “I’m so sorry, Severa! Oh gods, I’m such an idiot! Stupid Noire! Stupid!”

“Hey!” Severa snapped at her, causing her to flinch. “Don’t…don’t say that. You aren’t stupid.”

Noire sniffed and nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you apologizing for losing the talisman still, or because you think you made me angry?”

“Um…because I made you angry.”

Severa sighed. “It’s okay, Noire. I’m not mad. Let’s just retrace our steps, okay?”

They made their way back through the narrow streets of cramped buildings to the seafront. The talisman wasn’t in their makeshift camp, nor was it in the fishery they had searched for supplies the night before. Severa put her hands on her hips. “Shit.”

“It’s okay. I d-don’t really need it,” Noire said. “We can just leave it.”

“Can you fight without it?”

Noire bowed her head. “Y-yeah, I think.”

Severa tapped her foot impatiently.

“I don’t know!” Noire admitted. “I’m sorry, okay!? I don’t know!” She realized she was shouting. “Oh, no! I’m sorry, Severa, I didn’t mean to-“

Severa shook her head and ignored her. “It’s fine.”

“I’m so stupid. Gods, you should just leave me here to die. I’m no use to anyone.”

Severa glared at her. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true,” Noire sniffled. “I’m just a waste of space. I wish I would have died with my parents. Just leave me here.”

Severa grabbed her roughly. “Don’t say that! Don’t you _ever_ say that!”

Noire blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why not? You know it’s true! I’m just dragging you down!”

Severa fought the urge to hit her. She clenched her teeth, feeling herself reaching her boiling point.

It wasn’t a reaction that was lost on Noire. “Go ahead,” she said dejectedly. “Hit me.”

“No,” Severa exhaled, letting her tense anger melt away. “You know I would never do that.”

“Yeah,” Noire scoffed.

“What do you want, Noire? Do you want me to hate you?” Severa snapped.

Noire wiped her eyes. “N-No,” she said.

“Then stop acting like you do! You keep trying to push me away! I’m not going to leave you, okay? I promise!”

Noire burst into tears at this. “S-s-s-Severa,” she stuttered through her tears. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m-“

Severa groaned. “Gawds, you can be so annoying! Look, Noire. You’re…you’re pretty much the worst, okay? I’m not going to deny that. You’re weird and you’re annoying and I’m not at all surprised you were left behind by your last traveling group.” She realized that somewhere along the line her motivational speech had took a wrong turn. “Look…I know you’re not…you’re…” she tried and failed to recover.

Noire was still crying. Severa took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. “Look, I’m not…I’m not going to leave you, okay? I’m not going to leave you, and I swear I’m never going to hurt you. I promise. I would rather die than let something happen to you.” She could feel her face burning as she spoke. It was true, though as much stemming from her own deathwish as it did from her desire to protect Noire. “I…I know it’s hard for you to trust people, and I know you don’t like getting close to people, but…” she took another deep breath. “I promise I’ll never let you go, Noire. I lo-“

Her speech was interrupted by a growl and a crash from outside. Noire instinctively reached for her bow and Severa dropped her hand to the hilt of her sword.

 _Risen?_ Severa mouthed to Noire, who nodded. They crept slowly through the fishery, trying to slip out the door they came in. They looked left and then right, peering down the street. It was empty.

Noire was trembling, hugging her bow against her chest. Severa touched her arm. “It’s okay. You can do it, okay? I’m with you.” Noire nodded.

They made their way down the street, checking corners and looking into the dark alleyways. By the time they reached the town square, they had both begun to breathe again.

“Maybe it was just our imagination or something,” Severa suggested as a shambling beast appeared on the rooftops above them.

Noire squealed and pointed. “Risen!”

The monster dove off the roof, catapulting itself towards them at an alarming speed. Severa deftly lunged to the side, slashing her sword through its torso as it passed. It howled, black blood spraying from its chest. It attacked, its claws reaching for Severa. She lifted her sword and blocked the blow. Her face was a strained grimace as she matched her own strength against the Risen.

“Noire!” she shouted, parrying another swipe of claws and lunging for a riposte. “Do something!”

“I’m trying!” the archer cried as she fumbled with her bowstring.

Another silhouette appeared in the square. “Noire! To your left!” Severa called out. She sliced her foe’s ankles, satisfied as it collapsed to the ground with a howl.

More Risen began to flood out of the alleyways. Severa circled around to regroup with Noire, who was slowly plinking away at the hordes with her bow. She could shoot, which was a relief, even if she wasn’t quite the marksman the talisman made her out to be.

But, Severa reflected as she carved into the skull of another Risen, at least she isn’t shouting terrifying battle cries, which was a positive.

“To the abyss with you!” Noire snarled. She suddenly loosed a volley of arrows into the gathering throng of monsters. Severa, startled, let a Risen claw her leg. She cried out and thrust her blade into the monster’s arm.

“Touch her and die!” Noire shouted, lunging forward and thrusting an arrow between the monster’s eyes before withdrawing it, nocking it, and firing it into another. She plunged into the horde, a whirling tornado of steel and black blood.

Severa stared in awe. _The talisman…?_

She shrugged, not complaining about the reversal of fortune as she dove in behind Noire, carving out a path. It was a moderately-sized horde of Risen, probably small enough to outrun though they certainly couldn’t win an outright battle. Severa slashed at a monster and rolled into an alleyway. From the street she could see a straight shot out of the town and into the surrounding coastal forest.

“Noire!” she called. The archer was busy shredding into the horde. “Noire, let’s go!” Severa shouted again.

Noire ignored her, lost in her own world of blood and carnage. Severa groaned, begrudgingly leaving the safety of her alleyway to fetch her companion.

Noire’s quiver was looking dangerously low as she fought, continuing to fight against the seemingly unending tide of monsters. She began to stumble and Severa spied blood – red, human blood – beginning to trail behind her in drops and splashes.

Severa swore and began to carve a path towards her. _Almost…there…_ she thrust her blade through a monster’s back and withdrew, showering herself with black blood. She leapt through the hole in the life and tried to grasp Noire’s arm.

Before she had the chance she felt a sharp pain. Noire, in her frenzy, had slashed her with a steel arrowhead. Severa winced, withdrawing her hand and staring at her bloody palms. It was just a cut, but it had sliced through her gloves.

She growled. “Noire, we have to go!”

Noire reached into her quiver and grasped air. For a brief second, her eyes lit up with fear before she was grabbed by a monster and pulled under the thrashing horde.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Severa cried out.

“Noire!” she screamed, lunging into the crowd after her. She felt her arms slowing down, each stroke of her sword sluggish and fatigued. The meager breakfast wasn’t enough for sustained fighting, and with each swing she felt herself growing more and more tired. The sword, too, was dulling, it’s blade caked in dried blood and hair, some swings not even cutting through flesh so much as delivering a swift smack.

“Noire!” she cried again, limping forward. She could feel the monsters around her clawing at her, and with each sluggish parry she could feel a slash of fangs or talons. Her shoulder burned, her leg was weak, and she could no longer make a distinction between the black blood of the Risen on her and her own red.

One grasped her leg and raked its claws along her calf, drawing a scream of pain. She collapsed, her sword skittering across the ground. She landed heavily on her stomach and began to crawl, reaching out with a desperate hand to grasp the hilt of her sword. She grabbed it and turned, holding it up just in time to block a claw from scraping her abdomen. She weakly deflected the blow but it was immediately followed by another. She could feel the searing pain of the talons digging into her stomach, cutting through her thin mercenary gear like paper.

Suddenly the air was filled with a loud, piercing sound. A horn. The Risen stopped in their place, turning to look for the source of the noise. There was another blast of sound and the Risen began to shuffle backwards, away from the direction of the sound. A third blast sent them into a frenzy. Severa could hear shouting and smell the crackling, burning odor of magic roasting flesh.

She groped forwards, groaning as Risen trampled her on their way to fleeing.

“They’re retreating! Push forward!” came a voice.

“W-wait,” Severa said hoarsely, knowing that she wouldn’t be heard over the din of combat and howling monsters.

The sounds of fighting grew closer, sizzling splashes of magic mingling with the whistling of arrows and the heavy, dull thuds of axes crushing bones.

“Help,” Severa groaned again, quietly. “Please…Noire…”

She groped forwards, grasping fistfuls of cobblestone as she tried to pull herself towards the place where Noire had been pulled into the horde.

Behind her, she heard a horse whinny. _A horse? Who still had horses?_

She gasped, coughing and spitting as she clawed her way through the piles of Risen corpses. She pulled herself to her elbows, watching as the last of the horde scattered into the alleyways. She hauled herself up to her hands and knees, coughing blood.

“Noire,” she moaned, trying to crawl and falling facedown into the street.

She lay motionless, tasting copper. _Noire…_

She felt a shadow cast over her.

“Lucina!” a voice called. “We got a live one here!”

Another voice, presumably Lucina: “Go get Brady. I’ll take care of it.”

A figure crouched over her.

“Noire,” she mumbled again, weakly.

“Are you okay?” the figure asked.

“N-Noire…” Severa closed her eyes, feeling unconsciousness fading in.

“Inigo, hurry!” she heard a shout in her ear. “We’re losing her!”

Severa coughed, hauling herself to her knees, fighting unconsciousness with every motion. “N-No,” she stammered. “I can’t-“

The figure, a blue-haired girl in matching clothes, backed up as she climbed to her feet.

Severa grimaced, wiping an unknown mixture of her own and Risen blood out of her eyes. She limped forward, shuffling through the piles of dead.

“N-Noire,” she said softly. Then, louder: “Noire? Noire!”

“Did you have someone with you?” Lucina asked her, following behind cautiously.

Severa nodded. “Noire! Where are you?!”

Lucina grabbed Severa’s shoulder and held her back. “We can look for them. You need to get treated for your wounds.”

“Don’t care,” Severa shook her head.

Lucina frowned. “At least take this,” she said, thrusting a vulnerary into her hand.

Severa nodded and dumped the contents on her face, wiping her eyes and lapping at the salve that poured over her lips. She dropped the vulnerary and continued staggering into the battlefield, admittedly feeling much closer to alive than before.

She spied a broken bow sticking out from a pile of corpses. She leaped forward and spied another clue – an armored arm, bent somewhat strangely, sticking up from somewhere in the carnage.

“Noire!” Severa screamed, pulling the girl out from her tomb of fallen monsters. She looked somehow worse than Severa, her face a mask of scrapes and cuts, her lips cracked and bleeding. Her abdomen was a mess of shredded flesh and cloth, which she weakly held one hand to, as if to stop the flow of blood. Her legs, too, were soaked in blood.

“Noire,” Severa mumbled in incoherent panic. “Please, please wake up,” she cradled Noire’s body, pressing their foreheads together. “Please, Noire. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m sorry I said you’re useless. Please, Noire,” she begged. “Please wake up. Oh gods, I’m so sorry. I love you, please wake up. Please, Noire. I-“

Noire opened her eyes slowly, blinking.

Tears were already rolling down Severa’s cheeks. “Oh, Noire. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. I love you, Noire. I’m so sorry.”

Noire smiled weakly. “D-did I do good?”

Severa nodded, sobbing. “You did so good, baby. I’m so proud of you.” She gasped, choking back tears. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I found m-my talisman…”

“Oh?” Severa smiled through her tears.

“It…it was in m-my bag the whole t-time. S-sorry…” Noire closed her eyes.

Severa cradled her, bawling. “Noire, no! Please, gods, no! Come on, baby, please stay with me, come on!” she shook Noire’s shoulders. “No! You can’t die!”

She finally looked up through her filter of tears, and saw the assembled crowd before her. Lucina was back, flanked by several other armed and armored soldiers. A dark-haired man with a sword, a female knight clad in heavy plate steel, a slim-looking girl with short brown pigtails, a robed man with blonde hair and staff. They all stared at her, silent.

“Please!” she turned to them, hysterical. “You have to do something! Help me!”

Lucina turned to the robed man. “Brady, is there anything you can do?”

The man knelt in front of Severa. Severa blinked back tears, holding out the cradled body. “Please,” she whispered. “You have to do something.”

The man took Noire and supported her back with one arm, surveying her wounds. “I dunno, boss,” he said, turning to Lucina. “Not unless you got an Aum Staff in the convoy somewhere.”

“Please,” Severa begged. “Just…try. Please.” She grabbed him. “You have to!”

“Okay, okay! Geeze,” he shrugged. He looked over Noire’s wounds and set to work, quickly administering salves before holding his staff out above her still form. The staff glowed, bathing Noire in a pale green light.

Severa held her breath.

The light faded. Brady said nothing, but leaned in and pressed his ear against Noire’s chest. He frowned.

“Is…is she-“ Severa asked, afraid to know the answer.

Brady held his hand out over Noire’s mouth, feeling for her breath. He frowned again.

“Brady…” Lucina said softly.

Brady gently laid Noire on the hard stone. He got to his feet. Severa felt like she might explode, her head pounding almost as much as her heart.

“She’s stable, at least.”

Severa let out her breath at long last, and with it came more sobbing. Somewhere, in the distance of her mind, she told herself to stop crying, since it wastes hydration and they need to preserve water. She wept, mumbling Noire’s name.

“Stable?” Lucina asked.

“Yeah. Not dead, yet. But she’s not out of the woods. She needs some intensive treatment. Inigo, can you and Cynthia make something we can use for a stretcher?”

Inigo nodded and went off with the pigtailed-girl.

“Lucina, what do we have in the convoy in terms of medicine?”

Lucina rubbed her face. “We have vulneraries and concoctions. No elixirs. We’re short on bandages and gauze but we can probably spare some.”

“I have those,” Severa offered, wiping her eyes. “I have bandages, gauze, disinfectant, and a sewing kit we use for stitches.”

“Great,” Brady nodded. “That’s great. Okay…look, lady. I don’t wanna give you false hope – this is gonna be a rough few days, and to be perfectly honest I don’t know if she’s going to make it. But we’ll try.”

“Thank you,” Severa said, her stern voice uncharacteristically soft. “Thank you so much.”

 

 

“Leave it to Brady,” Lucina said, opening the flap to her tent and gesturing Severa in. “He’s a bit…crude, but he knows his business. If anyone can get your girl back to health, it’s him.”

Severa nodded, rubbing her eyes. She felt exhausted, her eyes sore and puffy from crying. “Thank you,” she said again.

“You don’t look too awful, so I can treat your wounds here while we talk, if you don’t mind.”

Severa nodded again.

Lucina began rifling through a chest, drawing out a variety of medicinal supplies. “You gave your sewing kit to Brady, so if you need stitches we’ll have to visit him. I’m no good with a needle.” She set her supplies down on the ground and gestured for Severa to sit. “Sit, sit. Is there anything you need? Water? Food?”

“Water would be great, but I didn’t get a chance to eat anything this morning, either.” Severa said.

Lucina nodded. “Here, take this. I’ll be right back.” She thrust another vulnerary into Severa’s hands and took off, darting outside the tent and into the camp.

Severa drank the vulnerary, the liquid thick and bitter, running down her throat like molasses. She fought the urge to vomit.  She touched her stomach, wincing as she brushed her wounds. Even now, though, she could feel the medicine churning in her body, repairing flesh and knitting torn arteries. She took another vulnerary and poured the liquid into her palm before rubbing it over her injured leg. She looked like a mess, all torn clothes and bloodstains.

The tent flap opened again and Lucina returned with a tray of food, as well as a flask of water. Even before she spoke, Severa grabbed the water and chugged it in a single gulp, gasping for breath and dropping the empty tin.

She turned and began shoveling food into her mouth. After weeks of nothing but dried meat or campfire-baked bread, anything would taste wonderful, and this was no exception. Soft bread, smoked sausage, and a hard, holey cheese. She didn’t even finish chewing before swallowing and stuffing more food into her mouth.

“Alright, alright. Slow down, there. We can only give you so much.”

Severa nodded, her cheeks puffy with food. She gulped it down. “Sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve had real food.”

Lucina nodded. “Here,” she said, taking her own flask off her belt and offering it to Severa, who used it to wash down the food.

“Thanks,” Severa said, coughing.

“Of course. Now come on, take that off,” she said, gesturing to Severa’s shredded shirt. She began to tug at the clothing, making Severa wince.

“Ah! That hurts!”

“Sorry,” Lucina muttered. “You do it, then.”

“I’m sorry? What?” Severa stared at her, blushing.

“Your wounds need cleaned. Take if off so I can help.”

Severa shook her head. “I can do it myself-Ah!” she cried out as she tried twisting to tug at the back of her shirt. “Fine,” she grumbled. She lifted her arms and let Lucina take her shirt off.

She set to work quickly, using a wet cloth and a bucket of river water to scrub Severa’s back.

“So…” Severa said, her face burning, trying not to think about what was happening. “Why’d you help us?”

Lucina wrung the cloth out, tinting the bucket of water a brownish pink. “You’re Cordelia’s daughter, aren’t you?”

Severa tensed at the name. She felt her fingernails dig into her knees. “How…?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Lucina said, tugging Severa’s head forward to clean the back of her neck. “You have her hair. I’d recognize that color anywhere.”

“Yeah?” Severa felt her gratitude shifting into impatience.

“I’m Chrom’s daughter.”

_Chrom?_ That got Severa’s attention, but certainly not in a good way. She clenched her teeth, her muscles stiffening.

“Your mother served my father in the-“

“I know,” Severa snapped. “Trust me, I know all about your father.”

“Woah,” Lucina was taken aback. “What’s with that reaction?”

Severa got to her feet, shrugging Lucina off. “Look, Lucina. I’m grateful that you saved me. You gave me food, and…and you saved Noire. I’ll forever be in your debt because of that.”

She pulled her dirty shirt back on and turned, her eyes dark and angry. “But as far as I’m concerned, your father is the reason my mother died.”

“What?” Lucina stood as well. “What are you talking about? She was in the army. She died with everyone else.”

“Yeah. Do you know what my last memory of my mother is? Her talking about how great Chrom was before going off and dying for him. Abandoning me and leaving me alone. She chose to die for him rather than stay with me.”

Lucina glared, offended. “How dare you say that? Would you have preferred she stayed out of the fight, a coward who refused to stand up against Grima?”

Severa clenched her fist. “It was hopeless from the start! She picked suicide for Chrom over staying and helping me! She knew it was suicide, and she went anyway!”

“She did what she had to! Everyone did!” Lucina snapped back. “You don’t get to stand there and pretend things might have worked out differently.”

 Severa seethed. “I…agh!” she tried stepping forward before putting her weight on her injured leg. She collapsed, face-first into the tent floor. She groaned and thrashed, lashing out angrily.

“You’re throwing a temper tantrum?” Lucina glared at her. “What are you, a child?!”

Severa pushed herself to her knees. She was crying again. Lucina’s heart dropped into her stomach.

“I hate you!” Severa cried. “I hate Chrom! He took my mother from me!” she curled up on the tent floor, sobbing into her knees. “I hate him, I hate him!”

Lucina stared, jaw slack. She knelt, resting a hand on Severa’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Severa. I didn’t realize it was such a sore subject.”

“Don’t touch me,” Severa muttered, though not moving.

Lucina remained still, her hand gently stroking Severa’s shoulder. “Stay with us,” she said softly. “It’s safer here.”

Severa rested her head on the floor, closing her eyes. “No,” she muttered at last.

“Why not?” Lucina, one hand still on Severa’s shoulder, began gathering up her medical supplies. She gingerly tugged Severa’s shirt up and began dabbing salve on her wounds.

“I…we…” Severa stopped and started. “We just can’t.”

Lucina lightly pressed gauze against a nasty slash on her back. “This is gonna hurt, okay?”

Severa said nothing.

“Okay?”

Severa nodded. Lucina pressed a bandage against her and began wrapping it around her abdomen, tucking it under her prone form and pulling it up again on the other side. “You really aren’t making this easy for me, you know.”

Severa sat up, her face sour.

Lucina was quiet as she tended to her, careful as she wiped up blood, sterilized wounds, and bandaged her. She helped Severa pull on a clean, plain shirt over her bandaged chest before turning her attention to her legs. “What’s your plan, then?” Lucina asked.

“We’re staying until Noire gets better. After that, we’re leaving.”

“And if she doesn’t get better?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I totally accidentally posted this as a complete work?? Don't worry it's not just one chapter that ends on a cliffhanger. Also I'm gonna update the tags because as I'm writing this I think it's going to end up being as much about Severa & Lucina's relationship as it is going to be SevNoire. That's still the main pairing though!


	3. Chapter 3

Noire’s recovery went remarkably quickly, given how close to death she had been such a short time ago. At least, that’s what Brady said. To Severa, whose medical experience admittedly amounted to self-administered stitches that always managed to get infected, it was nothing short of a miracle. Noire was up and walking in less than two weeks, and though she still hobbled with a bit of a limp, she was pretty much back to her old self. Still too weak to use a bow, but she helped out around the camp in other ways – cooking, mostly, or doing laundry or scrubbing dishware. Nothing too taxing, as per the doctor’s orders.

Severa couldn’t shake the feeling of unease now that Noire was awake. It was time to leave.

She begrudgingly agreed to join the list of volunteers whose jobs were doled out by Inigo, the smarmy and self-satisfied womanizer whose face just made Severa want to bash it into his skull. Today, he had Severa working on repairs to leather straps on the backs of shields and equipment. She gritted her teeth, winding a needle and thread through the leather strap of a pauldron, pricking herself in the finger and drawing blood droplets what seemed like every other minute. She scowled, throwing the pauldron to the ground and kicking it.

She wasn’t cut out for this line of work. She finally placed the feeling of unease. It was impatience. It was one thing to sit around doing nothing while Noire was healing, but now…Noire was fine, right? There’s no reason to not leave. Like she told Lucina she would.

As she picked up the armor and began working again, Severa thought back to what it had been like before this. It wasn’t like they were living the high-life, exactly, but at least they were…they were what, exactly? Every single day in Lucina’s army, she had three meals. Sure, it was still crappy food, but it was food. With Noire, sometimes days would pass before they managed to catch something edible. They had tried eating wyvern meat, but it made them both sick since they had scavenged the meat from a corpse. Noire, in one of her fits, almost made them eat Risen, but fortunately the corpse decomposed to dust before they had the chance. So Lucina’s camp won on that front. Even three consecutive days of bear stew was preferable to month-old horse jerky.

Beds, too. A tent was nice. No more sleeping in the rain, no more waking up with insects or rodents nibbling at their clothes - or, Severa remembered with a shudder, their skin. No waking up with bent and stiff spines, no more falling off narrow ledges they tried sleeping on to keep hidden. Food and shelter were luxuries that she could get used to.

Severa shook her head, stabbing her finger with a needle again. She shook her hand out before sticking the finger in her mouth, sucking the wound. No. They couldn’t. It would happen again, and she couldn’t risk that. They needed to leave. Each day they waited, they risked it. She closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to wash the memory out of her head. It would happen again, sooner or later. Her resolve strengthened, she headed back to her tent to begin preparations. She stood at the tent’s entrance, surveying everything. It had to be this way. There was no other choice.

Severa bent over and began gathering her things. She buckled her sheath to her waist and slid her sword in. She pulled on her boots and began to gather up a myriad of supplies for her pack. She gazed with mild disappointment at the meager rations they had left – still just the dried meat and hard bread, untouched for two weeks but still most likely edible. For a moment, she thought of the food the camp had been serving – not high quality, but _real_. She gritted her teeth and slung the bag over her shoulder. She gathered up the remnants of her medical supplies, sneaking an unused vulnerary that Lucina had given her. Finally, she changed her clothes, discarding the army hand-me-downs lent to her by Cynthia and changing back into her mercenary gear – ratty and worn, but she had patched it up with some fabric scraps she had found, making it more or less whole again.

She stormed out of the tent, letting the entrance flap in the wind behind her. The sky was tumultuous and orange, lightning crackling in the black storm wall high above.

She found Noire sitting at the campfire, fixing her bowstring. “Come on, Noire. We’re leaving.” She pulled Noire to her feet, drawing a soft “eep!” of protest.

Supporting Noire with one arm, Severa walked her through the camp, headed for the woods.

“Hey!” snapped a voice behind her. Severa groaned. They were so close. She turned.

Lucina was glaring at her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Severa let go of Noire, who took a moment to balance on her unsteady feet.

“We’re leaving. I told you.”

Lucina looked incredulous. “Are you serious?! She can barely walk!”

Severa watched Noire, who stumbled slightly as she hid behind Severa’s stern form. She squeezed her eyes shut. Severa crossed her arms. “She’s fine. It’s nothing we can’t deal with.”

“You’re going to die.”

“Yeah,” scoffed Severa. “Better out there than for your damn fool crusade.”

“What did you say?” snapped Lucina.

“You heard me,” Severa spat. “I lost my mother to this stupid war. I’m not losing Noire to it, too. Come on, we’re leaving.” She turned and began walking off, grabbing Noire’s arm.

“She’s going to _die!_ ” Lucina yelled. “You’re going to get her killed! I thought you wanted to keep her safe!”

Severa turned again, glowering. “That’s exactly why we’re leaving,” she said softly.

Lucina faltered. “S…Severa…?”

“Come on, Noire,” Severa brushed past her, not taking her arm to support her.

Noire stood still, clutching her bow to her chest, trembling. She looked from Lucina to Severa.

Severa made it several paces into the woods before she realized she was alone. “Noire, what’s the holdup? We’re moving out.”

Noire stared at the ground. A crowd was starting to form, curious soldiers coming to see what all the commotion was about.

“She doesn’t want to go.” Lucina took a step towards Severa.

“Yes she does.” Severa grasped Noire’s arm. “She’s coming with me.”

“She’s a grown woman. She can make her own decisions.” Lucina turned to face Noire. “Do you want to stay here, Noire?”

“I-I-I-“ Noire trembled, panicking. “I-“

“You don’t have to listen to her, Noire. Come on.”

Noire followed her sheepishly, still wobbling on her unsteady feet.

“Hey!” Lucina shouted. “Don’t you walk away from me!”

Severa didn’t stop. Lucina followed behind, shouting. “You owe me, remember?!”

That got her attention. Severa stopped, hanging her head. “Yeah, I remember.”

“You owe me. I saved Noire’s life. I’m not going to let you throw it away again.”

“She needs _me,_ not you. I can protect her.”

“Yeah, you were doing a fine job of it before I showed up.” A bolt of orange lightning flashed through the dark sky.

Severa turned, her eyes burning with rage. “You…You don’t understand!”

Lucina entreated Noire. “Please. You’re still hurt. Going with her is suicide.”

Noire nodded. “I-I don’t w-want to leave Severa.” She took Severa’s hand and stood behind her.

“Please,” Lucina pleaded. “Both of you, please stay. We have food, we have beds. You don’t have to go.”

Severa breathed heavily. They could stay, true. But staying was dangerous. Her head pounded, all of her fears boiling beneath her read twintails. She couldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of her. Not Noire…not Lucina, either. No one at camp could get hurt. They were better off alone. “No.”

Lucina dropped her hand to her sword hilt. “There only seems to be one language you understand.”

Severa scoffed, then laughed outright. She cackled, putting her hands on her knees for support. “Oh my gods, Lucina, are you _threatening_ me?” she laughed again. “What are you going to do, kill m-“ she looked up just in time to see a flash of gold-trimmed steel dropping on her head. She rolled, drawing her own sword and circling around Lucina.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she snapped.

“You don’t seem to understand anything but violence.” Lucina lunged again, thrusting her sword at Severa’s abdomen. She parried the blow away.

Lucina stood up to her full height, an imposing and regal figure above Severa’s poor posture and ratty clothes.

Severa glared. “So what? You’re gonna kill me?”

Lucina shook her head. She pointed the tip of her sword. “Fight me, Severa. If you best me, you’re free to go. Take Noire and leave, and go die in a hole somewhere.”

Severa smirked. “And if I lose?”

“You stay here. You become my property, until the day you die.”

Severa grinned. She circled around Lucina, sword drawn, cautiously pressing her toes into the soft earth. Thunder crackled in the sky above.

“You…you don’t have to do this!” Inigo shouted from the sidelines.

“Inigo, you’re the judge,” Lucina responded. “First to draw blood wins.”

Inigo looked distressed. “For what it’s worth, you both winners where it matters – in my heart,” he said somewhat pitifully, clasping his hand over his chest. Severa flipped him a middle finger.

Lucina took advantage of the opening and lunged, slicing Falchion through the air. Severa caught it with her chipped iron sword. The blow glanced off her blade easily.

“Worth a shot,” Lucina shrugged.

“Bastard,” Severa growled, thrusting her sword forward. Lucina parried and riposted, a stab which nearly plunged into Severa’s thigh had she not deftly stepped aside. She might not have the blood of the Exalt, but she knew how to fight. She rolled the sidestep into a slash at Lucina’s abdomen. He blow was deflected by an expert parry. Lucina held Falchion aloft with both hands, bringing it crashing down onto Severa’s head. She held her sword up, the weak iron blade threatening to snap under the rain of blows.

A magic sword hardly seemed fair.

She kicked, her boot connecting with Lucina’s stomach and driving out her breath. She staggered back, letting go of Falchion with one hand to clutch her stomach. Severa took advantage of her faltering by lunging and thrusting her sword. Lucina parried again, but realized too late it was a feint. Severa followed up with another kick to the groin. Lucina staggered backwards, wincing.

She glared at Severa, grimacing. “Cheater,” she grunted.

Severa shrugged and bowed in mockery. “What can I say?”

Lucina held Falchion back with both hands and charged, a heavy underhanded swing that crashed against Severa’s sword. There was enough energy behind the blow to pry her sword from her hands and send it skittering across the ground. She followed up immediately with another swing.

Severa jumped back, almost hearing the blade whistle across her stomach. She dashed back and dove, sliding with one leg through the dirt and snatching up her sword.

She looked from Lucina to the gathering crowd. Just about the whole camp was watching now, everyone whispering nervously to each other. She spied Noire in the back, clutching her bow and watching with quivering, misty eyes. Severa’s gaze turned from the crowd to Lucina, who was stalking towards her, one hand dragging Falchion behind her. She stood over Severa and swung, a one-handed swing over her head that rushed down towards Severa’s body. Rather than block, she rolled. Falchion thumped into the dirt next to her.

“You ungrateful little wretch!” Lucina scowled. She swung again, missing by a hair and lodging her sword in the dirt again. “You eat our food, you take our medicine, you sleep in our tents – and this is how you repay us?”

Severa scrambled to her feet. “I never _asked_ for your help!”

Lucina lunged and Severa parried.

“So you’d rather be dead? Turned into Risen?”

“Better there then for your damned war!”

Lucina doubled stepped, circling behind Severa and slashing at her heels. Severa jumped, narrowly avoiding the flash of silver.

“You’re a fool, Severa!”

Severa laughed callously. “You call _me_ a fool? You’re so idealistic, you don’t even know how big of a fool you are! Just like your father!”

Lucina gritted her teeth and charged, screaming. “Don’t you dare!” She swung, a rage-induced baseball swing that Severa easily ducked. She smirked and stuck out her leg, sending Lucina sprawling.

“You’re an idiot,” she said, gloating. “And your father was too. Look at your army!” she swung her arm across the assembled crowd. “A buncha kids. You think you stand any chance? You’ll die, just like Chrom.”

Lucina spat out a mouthful of dirt. “Don’t you dare say his name.”

“Who?” Severa smirked. “Chrom?”

Lucina roared, charging again. She did another two-handed swing, but Severa was prepared for it this time. Rather than block she dodged, using Lucina’s own momentum against her and sending her sprawling into the dirt.

“You don’t like when I say… _Chrom_?” Severa taunted again. “Chrom, Chrom, Chrom! He’s all you morons ever think about!”

Lucina stood up, pushing herself to her feet with her sword. She wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. “You don’t deserve to say his name,” she said, more calmly than Severa expected.

 “Get your head out of your ass!” Severa screamed, dropping her sword to her side. “You lost! There’s no war to fight anymore! There’s no hope of winning!”

Lucina shook her head, taking the screaming match to be a mutually-agreed-upon rest. “There’s always hope,” she said, staring straight into Severa’s eyes.

Severa laughed again, dabbing sweat from her brow with her sleeve. “Give me a break. Look around you!” she pointed into the sky, dark and orange and tumultuous.

“So what do you want?” Lucina asked. “What’s your plan? You walk away from us, then what?”

“We do what we’ve always done. Survive.”

“That isn’t life.”

“It isn’t death, either.” Severa wiped clods of dirt off her sword. “This…” she gestured again to the assembled army. “This is suicide.”

Lucina said nothing. She stared into the dirt a few paces in front of Severa.

“See? You can’t even respond. You know it’s true.”

“Why have you given up so easily?”

“So easily?” Severa snarled, offended. “So easily? What the hell do you think you’re talking about? You don’t know me.” She kicked the ground, sending a puff of dirt and gravel into the air. “I didn’t give up. I opened my eyes. There’s nothing left, Lucina. There’s no world left to save. I fought as long and as hard as I could, but there’s no one to fight for anymore – no one but yourself.”

“And Noire,” Lucina said softly.

“Don’t…” Severa shook her head. “You…you don’t know me. You don’t know her. Don’t bring her into this.”

Lucina laughed this time. “But you knew my father? Enough to drag his name through the mud?”

“I saw your father drive his soldiers to their deaths, and I see you doing the same thing.” She addressed the camp. “You heard it here first, folks – you’re gonna die! Each and every one of you is gonnaOOF!” She was interrupted by Lucina tackling her to the ground. She straddled Severa, raining punches onto her face. Severa held up both arms, trying to block the blows.

“Stop!” Noire staggered through the crowd and stumbled, collapsing into their makeshift arena. “S-stop it!”

Severa stopped immediately, turning her head sideways to watch Noire. Lucina ignored her, driving her fist into the side of Severa’s face before drawing back and repeating herself.

“Lucina, please,” Noire pleaded. “Stop.” Lucina clenched her teeth but looked to her fist – her knuckles were cracked and bloody, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was all Severa’s blood. Gasping for breath, she let her hands drop to her sides.

“D-don’t fight,” Noire said, sniffling. “P-please. We’ll stay. We can stay.” She knelt next to Severa, begging. “Please, Severa. It’s safe here. They have food, and they have lights, and-“

Severa pushed herself up on her elbows and Lucina climbed off her. “Noire…”

“Please,” she pleaded again. “I want to stay.”

Severa nodded slowly, Noire’s voice calming her frothing rage.

Lucina brushed herself off, picking Falchion up out of the dirt and sliding it back into its sheath. Severa touched her brow, her hand coming away bloody. She looked at Lucina and groaned.

“First blood,” Lucina said matter-of-factly as she walked past Severa’s prone form. “Welcome to the team, Sevvy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been tossing around a couple of drafts for this next chapter, so please let me know if I accidentally left in something that seems out of place/seems to be referencing things that didn't occur? I think it's fine but you never know.


End file.
